The Desert Sessions
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Desert Sessions are a musical collective series, founded by
Josh Homme Joshua Michael Homme ( ; born May 17, 1973) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the founder, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, which he form ...
in 1997. Artists such as
Brant Bjork Brant Bjork (born March 19, 1973) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is perhaps best known as the drummer and founder of the influential Californian stoner rock band Kyuss. Bjork played in Vista Chino, along with ...
,
PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined loca ...
,
Twiggy Ramirez Jeordie Osbourne White (born June 20, 1971), better known Twiggy Ramirez or simply Twiggy, is an American musician, mostly known as the former bassist and guitarist of the rock band Marilyn Manson. Previously, he was the bassist for A Perfect C ...
,
Dave Catching David Catching (born June 7, 1961) is an American musician from Memphis, Tennessee. He is a founding member of the California stoner rock band earthlings?, a touring member of Eagles of Death Metal and the co-founder of the Rancho De La Luna re ...
,
Nick Oliveri Nick Steven Oliveri (born October 21, 1971) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. He is perhaps best known as a former bassist of Kyuss and later Queens of the Stone Age from 1998 to 2004. Oliveri is also a solo artist and ...
,
Mark Lanegan Mark William Lanegan (November 25, 1964 – February 22, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and poet. First becoming prominent as the lead singer for the early grunge band Screaming Trees, he was also known as a member of Queens of the St ...
, John McBain,
Ben Shepherd Hunter Benedict Shepherd (born September 20, 1968) is an American musician, best known as the bassist of the rock band Soundgarden from 1990 to 2019. Shepherd has won two Grammy Awards as a member of Soundgarden. Early life Shepherd was bor ...
,
Josh Freese Joshua Ryan Freese (born December 25, 1972) is an American session drummer. He is the son of tuba soloist Stan Freese and the older brother of musician Jason Freese. He is a member of the Vandals (since 1989) and Devo (since 1996), having forme ...
,
Chris Goss Christopher Ryan Goss (born August 17, 1958) is an American record producer and musician. Best known for producing records for Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age, he is regarded as an important figure in the development of stoner rock and deser ...
,
Alain Johannes Alain Johannes Mociulski (born May 2, 1962) is a Chilean-American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, whose primary instruments are guitar and bass. He is a founding member of several bands, including the alternative rock group Eleven, and has ...
,
Troy Van Leeuwen Troy Van Leeuwen (born January 5, 1970) is an American musician and record producer. He is best known as a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist in the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, with whom he has recorded four studio albums. Joining the ba ...
,
Dean Ween Michael Melchiondo Jr. (born September 25, 1970), better known by his stage name Dean Ween, is an American guitarist, singer and a founding member of the alternative rock group Ween. He is currently active in the groups Ween, Moistboyz and The ...
,
Les Claypool Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and author. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the ro ...
and many others from the
Palm Desert Scene The Palm Desert Scene is a group of related bands and musicians from Palm Desert, California. Their hard rock sound – sometimes described as desert rock – contains elements of heavy metal, psychedelia, blues, punk, alternative, grunge, and ...
have contributed as songwriters and musicians.


History

The Desert Sessions began in August 1997 at the
Rancho De La Luna Rancho De La Luna is a recording studio in Joshua Tree, California that was founded in 1993 by Fred Drake and David Catching. After Drake's death in 2002 to cancer, the studio was operated by David Catching and Drake's collaborators Tony Mason ...
in
Joshua Tree ''Yucca brevifolia'' is a plant species belonging to the genus ''Yucca''. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names: Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yucca. This monocotyledonous tree is native to the ar ...
when
Josh Homme Joshua Michael Homme ( ; born May 17, 1973) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the founder, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, which he form ...
brought together musicians from the bands
Monster Magnet Monster Magnet is an American rock band. Hailing from Red Bank, New Jersey, the group was founded in 1989 by Dave Wyndorf (vocals and guitar), John McBain (guitar) and Tim Cronin (vocals and drums); they have since gone through several lineup c ...
,
Goatsnake Goatsnake is an American stoner/doom metal band from Los Angeles, California. They have released three studio albums, the first being 1999's '' Goatsnake Vol. 1''. Biography Goatsnake was formed in 1996 after the disbanding of The Obsesse ...
,
earthlings? earthlings? is an American psychedelic rock band based in Joshua Tree, California. The band includes members from Queens of the Stone Age, Desert Sessions, Eagles of Death Metal, Kyuss, Masters of Reality, Goatsnake, The Twilight Singers, Gu ...
,
Kyuss Kyuss ( ) was an American rock band, formed in Palm Desert, California, in 1987. The band disbanded in 1995, and since then, members of Kyuss have gone on to form or play in several notable bands including Queens of the Stone Age, Fu Manchu, D ...
(his own band, which had split in 1995.) The ranch is an old house filled with rare and unique recording equipment and instruments and was owned by
Dave Catching David Catching (born June 7, 1961) is an American musician from Memphis, Tennessee. He is a founding member of the California stoner rock band earthlings?, a touring member of Eagles of Death Metal and the co-founder of the Rancho De La Luna re ...
and the late Fred Drake. Songs are written "on the spot", often in a matter of hours. Many stories have grown around the Sessions. For example, the song "Creosote" from ''Volumes 9 & 10'' was written by
Dean Ween Michael Melchiondo Jr. (born September 25, 1970), better known by his stage name Dean Ween, is an American guitarist, singer and a founding member of the alternative rock group Ween. He is currently active in the groups Ween, Moistboyz and The ...
and
Alain Johannes Alain Johannes Mociulski (born May 2, 1962) is a Chilean-American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, whose primary instruments are guitar and bass. He is a founding member of several bands, including the alternative rock group Eleven, and has ...
on the ranch's front porch within four minutes of meeting each other. Similarly, Chris Goss and PJ Harvey wrote the song "There Will Never Be A Better Time" for '' I See You Hearin' Me'' after going out onto the porch of the ranch for four minutes with an acoustic guitar; they re-entered the house and recorded the song in one take, the only time the song was ever played by the collective. The first Desert Session was not actually a "session" ''per se'', but Homme and his band at the time (The Acquitted Felons) playing for three days straight on
psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...
mushrooms. Since then, the Desert Sessions have become legendary, growing in intensity and artistic merit. Homme said: The Desert Sessions have only performed live twice. The live incarnation, which included
Joey Castillo Joseph William Castillo (born March 30, 1966) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known for being the drummer of the hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age from 2002 to 2012. He is currently a member of Circle Jerks, The Bronx an ...
,
Troy Van Leeuwen Troy Van Leeuwen (born January 5, 1970) is an American musician and record producer. He is best known as a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist in the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, with whom he has recorded four studio albums. Joining the ba ...
, Brian O'Connor, and Homme, as well as a variety of musicians performing different songs, have performed on an episode of the British music television show '' Later... with Jools Holland'' as well as the
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. ...
in 2004. After 11 years of inactivity, Homme revealed in October 2014 that he would start working on more Desert Sessions material the following year. However, things remained silent until May 2019, when Homme posted an image on
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
with the
hashtags A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...
"#Desert, #Sessions, #11, #12". In August 2019,
Matt Berry Matthew Charles Berry (born 2 May 1974) is an English actor, comedian, musician, and writer. He is best known for his roles in comedy series such as '' The IT Crowd'', ''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'', ''The Mighty Boosh'', ''Snuff Box'', ''What ...
confirmed in an interview that he is involved with new Desert Sessions. In September 2019, ''Desert Sessions Volumes 11 & 12'' were officially announced, along with a comedic promo video featuring Homme and Liam Lynch. The promo includes Homme running through some of the featured artists such as
Billy Gibbons William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, ''Flas ...
,
Les Claypool Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and author. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the ro ...
, and
Jake Shears Jake Shears (born October 3, 1978) is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known as the male lead singer of pop-rock band Scissor Sisters. Early life Shears was born in Mesa, Arizona, the son of an entrepreneur father and a Baptist moth ...
.


Recording history

In a 2007 interview with Rockline, Homme stated that he was going to be working on a new Desert Sessions album in December 2007 and the first ten will be re-released as a box set, however more years passed since any activity happened. In 2019, the first time new Desert Sessions were released in sixteen years, Homme commented on the delay: "Because Desert Sessions works best at a certain time of the year, when everything slows and everyone takes a deep breath out. At the end of the year, in that December-January timeframe, everyone has exhaled. And post-exhale is the time to do something like that. So if I miss that window… I miss that window." .


Discography


Original EPs

*'' Volume 1: Instrumental Driving Music for Felons'' (1997) *'' Volume 2: Status: Ships Commander Butchered'' (1998) *'' Volume 3: Set Coordinates for the White Dwarf!!!'' (1998) *'' Volume 4: Hard Walls and Little Trips'' (1998) *'' Volume 5: Poetry for the Masses (SeaShedShitheadByTheSheSore)'' (1999) *'' Volume 6: Black Anvil Ego'' (1999) *'' Volume 7: Gypsy Marches'' (2001) *'' Volume 8: Can You See Under My Thumb? There You Are.''(2001) *'' Volume 9: I See You Hearin' Me'' (2003) *'' Volume 10: I Heart Disco'' (2003) *'' Volume 11: Arrivederci Despair'' (2019) *'' Volume 12: Tightwads & Nitwits & Critics & Heels'' (2019)


Compilation albums

*'' Volumes 1 & 2'' (1998) *'' Volumes 3 & 4'' (1998) *'' Volumes 5 & 6'' (1999) *''
Volumes 7 & 8 ''Volumes 7 & 8'' is a compilation of the seventh and eighth releases from The Desert Sessions. The seventh volume is titled '' Gypsy Marches'', and the eighth '' Can You See Under My Thumb? There You Are.''. The album features appearances from ...
'' (2001) *'' Volumes 9 & 10'' (2003) *'' Volumes 11 & 12'' (2019)


Singles

* Crawl Home (2003) Note *Desert Sessions 7 & 8, 9 & 10, and 11 & 12 were never released independently of each other. The first two were originally released as two double EPs, and the latter as a single LP.


Collaborating artists


Notes


References


External links


Desert Sessions
Official site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Desert Sessions, The Grammy Award winners Musical collectives Rock music groups from California Musical groups established in 1997 American stoner rock musical groups Man's Ruin Records artists Ipecac Recordings artists Southern Lord Records artists Matador Records artists 1997 establishments in California